The Grove: Campaign Blog & Newsroom

Urging BC Government to “Take It Taller!” in the Great Bear Rainforest

posted by: Administrator, February 10, 2012 at 7pm

Conservation agreements are 50% fulfilled

This week saw renewed focus brought to the call for the BC government to finish what they started in carrying out the 2006 Great Bear Rainforest agreement. Logging, as well as potential Tar Sands pipeline development, continues to threaten a landmark agreement that has already been 50% fulfilled. It would be tragic to stop now.

In March 2009 all parties committed to new milestones to increase conservation and improve human well-being in coastal communities. However, delays in reaching these milestones have created an urgent need to speed up the implementation process.

Media Coverage

The Vancouver Sun outlined the work that still needs to be done, and quoted ForestEthics’ Valerie Langer on the way forward:

âWe are asking Premier Christy Clark to finish the Great Bear Rainforest job before the next election, which would be 2013,â said Valerie Langer, director of forest campaigns for ForestEthics. âThe industry is on board with this. Logging companies believe it can be done; we just need to get the province to step up to the plate.â

Valerie and Jens Wieting of Sierra Club BC were also featured in a great Global TV spot alongside some great footage of whales, bears, and the glorious ecosystem we’re working to protect:

The Tyee included an update with a response from the BC government, and the Vancouver Observer said that we need to be vigilant if we still want to consider the GBR Agreement one of BC’s "stellar accomplishments".

Mongabay quoted Greenpeace’s Eduardo Sousa on the type of action we need: ""The science is very clear that we need to protect about 70 per cent of the natural level of old-growth forest if we want to save the Great Bear Rainforest from inevitable decline."